Inflatable drop-stitch cornhole board

ABSTRACT

An inflatable cornhole game board that is compact and light for transport, easy to inflate, and maintains a smooth and rigid surface for play. The rectangular playing board uses drop-stitch material, formed of opposing base layers of polyester support fabric joined to each other by thousands of fine polyester threads. One or more layers of airtight PVC coating layers are applied to the outer surfaces of both base substrates. Near one end of the rectangular playing board, a hole passes through the playing board. Sidewall material, usually made of a polyester base fabric with a non-breathable coating is glued between the outer edges of the top and bottom layers, as well as the inner edges of the cornhole, to create an airtight drop-stitch core. An inflatable support member, also formed by the drop-stitch construction, is glued to the bottom surface of one end of the rectangular playing board. The support member extends down from the bottom surface of the playing board to hold the playing board up at one end, which creates the sloped playing board needed to play the cornhole game. The dense matrix of fixed-length threads between the top and bottom layers of the drop-stitch material hold the layers in a very even distance from each other and, under inflation, create an extremely hard board. The drop-stitch construction can be inflated to pressures up to 20 pounds per square inch (psi), creating a hard and rigid structure suitable for playing the cornhole game or other games requiring a board with a hard playing surface, such as billiards.

1. CLAIM OF PRIORITY TO PROVISIONAL APPLICATION (35 U.S.C. § 119(E))

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from provisional patent Application No. 62/893,796, filed Aug. 29, 2019. The 62/893,796 Application is incorporated herein by reference.

2. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the construction of an inflatable cornhole board, and more specifically to the use of drop-stitch material for such construction.

3. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The cornhole game is an outdoor or indoor recreational game played in backyards, living rooms, driveways, garages, parks, gyms, beaches, and other areas. The game is played by people of all ages and has of late become very popular. Sometimes called “Corn Bag Toss”, the game employs two sloped rectangular boards, each with a 6-inch diameter hole near the raised end of the sloped board, and corn filled bags. The rectangular boards are 4-feet by 2-feet, the front end rests on the ground, the rear end is raised 12 inches off the ground, and the center hole is 9 inches from the raised rear end of the board and 12 inches from each side. The bags are 6-inch fabric squares filled with 2 cups of feed corn (or plastic pellets), and weigh between 14 to 16 ounces The front ends of the boards are placed opposite each other at a distance and players compete against each other by attempting to throw the bags through the hole in the board or, less desirably, onto the sloped board. This game is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0,023,762 of Greiwe et al. (“Greiwe”), and by the American Cornhole Association (“ACA”). See https://www.playcornhole.org/pages/rules (“ACA Rules”). Greiwe describes the construction of the rectangular boards from boards from plywood, acrylic, plexi-glass or plastic composite (see Greiwe FIG. 15), and the ACA describes the use of plywood, plastic, and other surfaces, preferring wooden boards for “ACA sanctioned cornhole tournaments”. See ACA Rules, “Equipment: Standards for Cornhole Boards and Bags”).

Many players enjoy playing the cornhole game at the beach, park, or when camping, but lugging the boards around is a significant impediment. What is needed is a cornhole board that is light and compact for transport, but easy to deploy.

Efforts to create game tables that are compact for transport and sufficiently strong for play have had deficiencies. U.S. Pat. No. 7,850,534 to Smith (“Smith”), discloses an inflatable pool table using “flexible rubber sheets” (58) between the top (30) and bottom (32) panels of the inflatable table (10) “so that, in the inflated condition of the table (10), the top panel can not bulge upwardly”. See Smith, col. 2, lines 44-47. Although Smith asserts that “the top playing surface is, surprisingly, maintained in a flat horizontal condition”, the reality is that the surfaces will, nevertheless, bulge under inflation in the areas between the spots where the flexible rubber sheets (58) are attached to the top and bottom panels. Moreover, because Smith's rubber sheets are, admittedly, “flexible”, they will stretch under tension when the table is inflated.

What is needed is an inflatable cornhole board that is strong enough to act like a plywood cornhole board.

4. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an inflatable game board that is compact and light for transport, easy to inflate, and maintains a smooth and rigid surface for play. In the disclosed embodiment of a cornhole board, the inflatable board uses drop-stitch construction. The drop-stitch material is formed of opposing base layers of polyester support fabric joined to each other by thousands of fine polyester threads. One or more layers of airtight PVC coating are applied to the outer surfaces of both base substrates. Near one end of the rectangular playing board, a 6-inch diameter “cornhole” is cut through the playing board. Sidewall material, usually made of a polyester base fabric with a non-breathable coating is glued between the outer peripheral edges of the top and bottom layers, as well as the inner edges of the cornhole, to create an airtight drop-stitch core. An inflatable support member, which may also be formed of the drop-stitch construction described above, is glued to the bottom surface of the raised rear end of the rectangular playing board nearest the cornhole. The support member extends down from the bottom surface of the playing board to hold the playing board up at the cornhole end, which creates the sloped playing board needed to play the game. The dense matrix of fixed-length threads between the top and bottom layers of the drop-stitch material hold the layers in a very even distance from each other and, under inflation, create an extremely hard board. Inflation valves are provided in the playing board and support member, or an air passage between the playing board and support member allows both to be inflated together through a single valve. The drop-stitch construction can be inflated to pressures up to 20 pounds per square inch (psi), creating a hard and rigid structure suitable for playing the cornhole game or other games requiring a board with a hard playing surface, such as billiards.

5. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a three-quarter front perspective view of the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a top perspective view of the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a bottom perspective view of the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a side perspective view of the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a front perspective view of the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a rear perspective view of the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a cross section view of the drop-stitch construction used in the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a cross section view of an alternate drop-stitch construction used in the cornhole board of the present invention.

FIG. 9A shows a rear perspective view of an alternative support member embodiment for the present invention.

FIG. 9B shows a rear perspective view of the alternative support member embodiment for the present invention with the hinged supports folded in.

FIG. 9C shows a side perspective view of the alternative support member embodiment for the present invention.

6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 6 show an inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board 10 according to the present invention. According to the ACA, a regulation board is a rectangle 47.5 to 48 inches long by 23.5 to 24 inches wide. The board is supported at a back end to a height of 12 inches. A hole in the board is 6 inches in diameter, with its center 9 inches from the rear of the board and 12 inches from each side of the board's edges. The game board 10 of the present invention comprises a playing board member 11 supported at a rear end 18 by a support member 20. The front end 17 is intended to rest on the ground or floor, so that the game board 10 will be sloped upward. A cornhole passage or hole 12, near the rear end 18 of the cornhole board 10, passes through the top playing surface 13 to the bottom surface 14 of the playing board 11. The passage 12 is formed by an inner wall 16 joining the top playing surface 13 and the bottom surface 14 and creates an airtight seal within the board member 11. The hole 12 is sized so that a playing piece 29, such as a cornhole bag, may pass through the hole 12. The top surface 13 of the playing board 11 is smooth and hard, like a wooden plank. The support member 20 is joined to the bottom surface 14 of the playing board 11 at the rear end 18 at the joint indicated at 27 in FIG. 6. A top edge 23 of the support member 20 may be joined 27 by glue and faces 21 will be oriented laterally to the orientation of the length of the playing board 11. Inflation valves, 19 and 25, in the bottom surface 14 of the playing board 11 and the rear 18 facing face 21 of the support member 20, respectively, allow for inflation of each member. Alternatively, air passages (not shown) between the playing board Inflation valves are provided in the playing board and support member, or an air passage between the bottom surface 14 playing board 11 and the joint 27 with the top edge 23 of the support member 20 allows both to be inflated together through a single valve, either valve 19 in the bottom surface 14 of the playing board 11 or valve 25 at the rear 18 facing face 21 of the support member 20. Flaps 28 with grommets 29 may be added so that the inflatable cornhole board 10 to secure it in place with stakes (not shown) during play. One or more flaps 28 may extend from the bottom surface 14 of the front end 17 of the playing board 11 and from the bottom edge 28 of the support member 20.

FIG. 7 provides a cross section view of the drop-stitch construction of the playing board 11 and support member 20. Drop-Stitch material allows the structures, 11 and 20, to be inflated to high pressures by joining the surfaces by tens of thousands of fine threads 32. The process starts by joining two pieces of polyester woven support fabric 31 with thousands of fine polyester thread lengths 32. Usually, the base material 31 is made in strips from five to ten feet in width and up to 400 needle heads may be used in the manufacture. Each needle sews a continuous, evenly spaced thread 32, back and forth between the top and bottom layers of woven fabric base material, 30 and 31, respectively. Polyester thread is used throughout because it is strong, durable and has very little stretch. The polyester threads 32 are substantially inelastic and the thousands of threads 32 lock the base substrates, 30 and 31, together to form an exceptionally strong unit. In conventional drop-stitch construction, air-tight PVC coating layers, top 33 and bottom 34, are applied to the outer surfaces of both base substrates, 30 and 31. Sidewall material, 15 and 22, of the playing board 11 and the support member 20, respectively, usually made of a polyester base fabric with a non-breathable coating on both sides, is then glued between the top and bottom surfaces, 13 and 14 of the playing board 11 and support member 20, to form the sides, 15 and 22, of the playing board 10 and support member 20, respectively, thereby creating an airtight drop-stitch structure. This construction can be inflated to pressures up to 20 pounds per square inch (psi). This construction makes the inflatable playing board 11 very hard and rigid. Yet, when deflated, the board 10 can rolled-up easily for storage.

In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 8, a stiffening film layer 37 is disposed between the base substrate 33 and the outer layer 38 by bonding the stiffening film 37 to the base substrate 33 and bonding the outer layer 38 to the stiffening film 37. The inelastic stiffening film 37 is supported by the rigid drop-stitch core and provides reinforcement against flexing, thereby decreasing the tendency of the inflatable board to deform. This construction makes the inflatable board 10 more like the rigid wooden cornboard. Yet, when deflated, the stiffening film 37 can be bent enough such that the board 10 can rolled-up for storage.

The stiffening film 37 is, preferably, made of an inelastic material that allows little stretching or bending, such as acrylic. When supported by an inflated drop-stitch core, an acrylic stiffening film layer 37 provides significant added stiffness to the top 13 of the board 10.

In an alternative embodiment, the inflatable cornhole playing board member 11 may be propped up at its rear end 18 by non-inflatable supports 40, such as those shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The support 40 may be a pair of legs 41 foldably attached at bases 42 on each side of the rear end 18 bottom surface 14 of the playing board 11. The legs 41 may be hinged at the base 42 to allow them to be folded in for storage. Alternatively, the non-inflatable support 40 may be a hinged frame that folds back against the bottom surface 14 of the playing board 11 for storage.

The drawings and description set forth here represent only some embodiments of the invention. After considering these, skilled persons will understand that there are many ways to make an inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board according to the principles disclosed. The inventor contemplates that the use of alternative structures, materials, or manufacturing techniques, which result in an inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board according to the principles disclosed, will be within the scope of the invention. 

1. An inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board comprising: a rectangular board member comprising a planar top surface with a top edge about a top periphery of the planar top surface, a bottom surface with a bottom edge about a bottom periphery of the bottom surface, longitudinal sides and transverse sides, a side member joining the top edge to the bottom edge, a rear end at one of the transverse sides and a front end at the transverse side opposite the rear end, a cornhole passage between the top surface and the bottom surface of the board member, wherein the cornhole passage is formed by a cornhole inner wall joined to the top surface and the bottom surface of the board member, wherein the cornhole passage forms a hole configured to allow a game playing piece to pass through the hole, wherein the board member defines an airtight interior board space formed by the top surface, bottom surface, side member, and cornhole inner wall, and wherein the top surface and bottom surface of the board member are joined within the airtight interior board space by drop-stitch construction formed of an array of threads holding the top surface and bottom surface at a fixed distance when inflated; a support member on the bottom surface of the board member proximate the rear end to prop the rear end of the board member above the front end of the board member.
 2. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 1 wherein the inflatable board member further comprises a valve to inflate and deflate the inflatable board member.
 3. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 2 wherein the support member is formed by an inflatable airtight support core.
 4. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 2 wherein the support member further comprises a support member valve to inflate and deflate the support member.
 5. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 3 further comprising an air passage between the airtight interior board space and the airtight support core.
 6. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 5 wherein the support member comprises a front face and a rear face joined by drop-stitch construction formed of an array of threads holding the front face and rear face at a fixed distance when inflated, wherein the front face has a front periphery and the rear face has a rear periphery, wherein a support wall joins the front periphery and the rear periphery, whereby the front face, rear face and support wall form the airtight support core.
 7. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 1 wherein the inflatable board member further comprises at least one flap at the bottom edge proximate the front end, wherein the flap comprises a passage through which a stake may be inserted to secure the inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board to a playing surface.
 8. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 1 further comprising a stiffening layer formed of an elastic film disposed over the top surface of the board member.
 9. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 1 wherein the support member is hinged to the bottom surface of the board member and may be folded against the bottom surface of the board member or folded out from the bottom surface to prop up the rear end of the board member.
 10. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 1 wherein the support member comprises a pair of legs.
 11. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 10 wherein the legs are hinged to the bottom surface of the board member and may be folded against the bottom surface or folded out from the bottom surface to prop up the rear end of the board member.
 12. The inflatable drop-stitch cornhole game board of claim 1 wherein the longitudinal sides of the board member have a length of between 47.5 and 48 inches and a width between 23.5 to 24 inches, the hole has a center and a diameter of 6 inches, and the center of the hole is 9 inches from the rear end of the board member and equidistant from longitudinal sides of the board member, and wherein the support member props the rear end of the board member above a front end of the board member by 12 inches. 